Winter returned yesterday. We didn't get the lethal blast that Scotland endured but brass monkeys in Kensington were complaining bitterly. A couple of engineers from the company who build our canopy were none too happy either as they dangled from ropes and clambered over the peaks of the roof. It had been noticed that the finely honed process of tensioning the fabric had gone awry ever so slightly. This meant a small section of the structure looked a bit wrinkly, water was running off it in unexpected ways and points that carry heavy loads of lighting truss were at odd angles. To the untrained eye nothing would seem amiss but it needed tweaking and so the riggers were swinging around in the icy winds fiddling with the giant cat's cradle of cables and turning spigots and bolts . I left them to it in order to get to Cadogan Hall for the Chelsea Academy showcase.

And what a showcase it was; the kids were fantastic in their performances of Carmen extracts and the beautiful entrance hall of the venue looked fabulous. Congratulations to all concerned and hopefully we will see projects like this flourish through next year and beyond. These were eleven and twelve year old kids and we should all continue to challenge them because they really can lift themselves to achieve when they are given the opportunity. There is no limit to what we can expect from them. I know this from personal experience in my own schooling and it is something James and I will continue to preach.

The Indy podcast is up on their website

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/opera-podcast-opera-holland-parks-new-season-1932232.html

Carmen Inspired

The final piece of the twelve week Chelsea Academy Carmen Inspired project (see our website for the project blog) falls into place today when the students give their performances at an event at Cadogan Hall. We are making a short film of today so watch this space for links to that which no doubt we will plonk on the web somewhere. A really exciting day for them I hope and we are all looking forward to it.

The podcast went well with Ed and I did my utmost to sound as hinged as possible. That will be on the web soon too so you'll be able to make your own mind up. I think some interesting stuff was said along the way...

James and I are recording a podcast for the Independent today. Ed Seckerson who does these for the paper and syndicates them elsewhere never seems to edit them; which is a good or bad thing depending on how ridiculous the things you say are. I did one with him last year and I still think I sound a touch unhinged on it.

Podcasts are good things now that people are used to the whole process of getting them, not to mention the streaming, press and play nature of most websites. If you have the money you can fill your website with films and podcasts and all manner of fancy content. Very nice too, if you can dredge up the resources. I have doubts that the costs are totally commensurate with the ticket sales it all generates but it doesn't do any harm I am sure.

Get on with it

The news that Scotland and the north are about to be deluged with snow is a timely reminder that in the UK at this time of year you really can get four seasons in one day. We, meanwhile, soldier on with the build and today saw the arrival of the first elements of the lighting installation. I just shared a pint or two of Spring Cottage Biscuit ale (recent tipples have included Cornish Knockers - the Brits like to have fun with their beer names) with Ops manager Stu and he appears to be taking possessive ownership of the site. He is one of the less brusque Aussies I know but I still sense the first 'effoff and suck yer own pineapple' isn't far away; this will be a good thing and a momentous step in his development.

The box office had a mightily busy day today but appeared to cope admirably. Forza is going all guns blazing and is absurdly popular. Our Friends have been extremely demanding in their desires and have purchased significantly more tickets than at the same point last season. Am I complaining? You can bet a pair of Cornish Knockers I'm not.

The school thing we did was amazing. Ms Boylan was stupendous and brilliant and I can't thank her enough. Her la mamma morta was mind bogglingly good and her way with the students most expert. She is a Star (note the capital S) with a heart of gold.

PHEW!

It happens every year; we open the online bookings and for the first hour carnage ensues. Irritating as it is, it is sometimes sheer weight of traffic but the hackles do go up when those who support us technically always act surprised at the volume. A few issues came up yesterday that were a first for us although those same techies tell us that none of this is new - of course not. Well readers of this blog and followers of my Twitter made their feelings known and gave us the odd heads up. New systems are in the pipeline. At one point we had three different servers in different parts of the world suffering the screaming hab dabs for one reason or another. Eventually we opened the phones. Several thousand tickets were sold yesterday alone. Hard hats and saline drips have been prepared for Monday. St Johns Ambulance might have to be in attendance too.
One obvious cause of the rush is the ten pound ticket allocation. Hardly surprising. A couple of thousand went on sale online yesterday and had gone within the blink of an eye. Another couple of thousand go on sale on Monday via the phone (not everybody has online access) and no doubt others will be disappointed. It is frustrating that we cannot give more - Dannii Minogue still hasn't sent the cheque (see earlier blog post if that confuses you). The temptation is to start restricting how many one person can buy of these tickets and perhaps we will look at a booking period just for ten pound seats, stagger their release etc. Making it as fair as possible for everybody is the real challenge.
I am working on a scheme whereby companies and donors can contribute units of money to specifically subsidise further blocks of ten pound seats....more anon. My personal aim is to get up to ten thousand seats at £10 in the season. These would be spread evenly across the six for the first five thousand seats as they are now and then donors could decide what productions they would like to enable people to see. Obviously we need to work out details but watch this space. It might take a while to get to that golden figure of 10,000 but don't bet against us getting there. We will need a better box office system though!